The Way We Were
by Auztria
Summary: Emworth story, set shortly before Phoenix Wright came into the picture. Slightly humorous. No deaths involved. Please read and review!


**Hi! I'm getting back to writing romance after my dark story, Death Unrequited. A daydream about Ema and Miles before Phoenix Wright came into their lives grew into this. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Clack._

Miles Edgeworth looked up as the door to his office opened to see a young girl standing in the entrance. Ema Skye, the Chief Prosecutor's sister.

"H-Hi, Mr. Edgeworth!"

"Ah, hello, Miss Skye. What brings you to my office today? I trust you and Lana are well...?"

"Um, yes... I just, er, got bored with sitting in Lana's office all day. I thought I could come here?"

Edgeworth sighed. "Please return to your sister, Miss Skye. I'm very busy and I'm afraid I don't have the time to baby-sit you."

"Please, Mr. Edgeworth? I promise to behave! I'll just sit quietly on your sofa and not disturb you... Pleeeeease?"

Edgeworth looked at her with a tired expression, then sighed resignedly. "All right... I suppose, if you must." _Since you probably would have kept on bothering me had I refused..._

"Th-Thank you so much, Mr. Edgeworth! I promise, you won't even notice I'm here!" Ema plopped down comfortably on the office sofa.

As Edgeworth worked, Ema gazed at him with a slightly dreamy look on her face. At one point, Edgeworth glanced up to check on her, and she started, her hand covering her mouth as she quickly looked away from a very confused Miles Edgeworth.

* * *

Edgeworth looked up as a sharp rapping sounded on his office door. "Come in."

The door opened and Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye stepped into the room. "Good morning, Mr. Edgeworth. I was just wondering, have you seen Ema anywh-" She trailed off as she saw Ema sitting on Edgeworth's sofa, her hand over her mouth in surprise.

"Ema, what are you doing here? I told you to stay in my office!" shouted an angry Lana. She rounded on Edgeworth. "Why is my sister in your office? What is the meaning of this?"

Edgeworth quailed before Lana's icy stare. "I-I didn't... I-I mean, she, she... it was..."

"Sis, it was me!" Lana stopped glaring at Edgeworth and looked at her sister. "I, er, got bored with sitting in your office and I, uh, decided to visit Mr. Edgeworth!" she said hurriedly.

"U-Um, yes, I see..." said a puzzled Lana Skye.

"Yes, I was just as confused as you assuredly are," said Edgeworth, noticing Lana's expression, "I don't know why she chose my office to visit..."

"Um! W-Well, I... I knew Mr. Edgeworth from before, when you introduced us!"

Lana still looked confused. "I can understand that, but you also know Detective Goodman and Jake, and they work much closer to me than Mr. Edgeworth does. Why come here, then?"

"Oh! It was, uh... Well, I hadn't seen Mr. Edgeworth in a long time! Yeah, that was it!" Ema's big smile seemed a little forced.

Lana still seemed skeptical, but she seemed to accept Ema's explanation. "Well, all right then. Come back to my office now, though, Ema."

"A-Actually, do you mind if I stay with Mr. Edgeworth for the rest of the day, sis? I-I mean, since I'm already here and all..." Ema trailed off, looking pleadingly at her sister.

Lana looked at Edgeworth, who shrugged. "She's been quiet, and she hasn't distracted me at all. If she wants to stay here, then I have no objections."

Lana thought it over, then came to a decision. "Okay, Ema, you can stay, as long as you don't disturb Mr. Edgeworth. He is very busy right now, you know."

"Thank you, sis! Thank you so much!"

* * *

From that day forth, Ema stopped by Edgeworth's office every day. When Edgeworth went to Lana to inquire about Ema's visits, Lana said, "She says that by studying your work, she can learn something for the future."

This puzzled Edgeworth. _I thought she wanted to be a forensic scientist..._

His thoughts were interrupted by Ema bursting through his door. "Good morning, Mr. Edgeworth!" she called happily.

Edgeworth's expression softened a little. He didn't really mind having Ema around the office. She made him feel more... relaxed. "Good morning, Miss Skye. How are you today?"

Ema smiled. "I'm doing great! I just got a 97 on my science test the other day!"

"Well done, Miss Skye. Studying hard is the basis of a successful career, after all."

Ema's smile widened. "Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth! Oh, that reminds me... guess what Lana said yesterday?" She looked at him with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Edgeworth's calm expression disappeared, replaced with a worried look. "What?"

"She said that I could become your assistant!" Ema was practically bouncing with excitement. "I'm starting today!"

Edgeworth smiled sadly. "I'm terribly sorry, Miss Skye, but Detective Gumshoe is already my assistant. And I'm afraid that you simply don't know how to be a prosecutor's aide."

Ema shook her head, still smiling. "No, no, Mr. Edgeworth, not that kind of assistant! Lana said I could just like, y'know, run errands for you and stuff! Like, take files to people, get you tea, that sort of thing! Just like Detective Gumshoe! Please, Mr. Edgeworth?"

Edgeworth glared at the wall, muttering darkly. Ema managed to pick up the words "Gumshoe" and "more than _he _does". Suddenly Edgeworth whipped around to glare at her, and she jumped back in fright.

"Ah, I'm sorry," said Edgeworth, changing to a more apologetic (and far less intimidating) expression. "Very well, I'll give you a chance as my assistant. If you perform well, I may even let you assist me in a few investigations." _You certainly can't be any worse than Detective Gumshoe..._

"Thank you so much, Mr. Edgeworth! You won't regret this, I promise!" said an overjoyed Ema Skye.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Miles Edgeworth had allowed Ema Skye to become his assistant. Over those two weeks, Edgeworth had grown to become quite fond of his young assistant. Her enthusiasm for forensic science had greatly helped on a few investigations, and he had even allowed her to serve as his legal aide for a trial.

For her part, Ema was having the time of her life acting as Edgeworth's assistant. Still, no matter what she dis, Edgeworth never seemed to pick up on her hints of romance. _He really is clueless when it comes to his heart... _she thought as she entered his office the day after the trial, for which the verdict had been, of course, **Guilty**. _Maybe I could... _An idea crept into her mind.

"Good morning, Miss Skye. Thank you for your assistance during the investigation and yesterday's trial." Edgeworth was in a good mood.

"You're welcome, Miles. Thanks for letting me be your legal aide." She'd started calling him Miles a while back to try to get him to _understand, _but he didn't seem to notice. She sat on the sofa, pretending to read a magazine while plotting, each scheme more devious than the last. Meanwhile, Miles Edgeworth sat naively at his desk studying case files.

* * *

"Miles?"

"Yes, what is it, Miss Skye?"

"Can you come over here and check something out for me? I think I've got something in my eye..."

"Certainly." Edgeworth peered into Ema's eye. "I don't see anything..."

"Look REALLY close," said Ema. "I think it's very small..."

Edgeworth gazed into Ema's eyes, and the young girl nearly forgot her plan, so captivating were his beautiful gray eyes.

"Well, Miss Skye, I think..." started Edgeworth, beginning to pull away. Ema came out of her dazed trance. _No! I can't let him get away... Not now! I might not get another chance like this...!_

Miles Edgeworth had a hard time processing what happened next, because it seemed to him that Ema Skye had just seized him and pulled him onto her on the sofa and now had her lips pressed against his, but his brilliant mind just couldn't particularly understand that, until...

"MILES EDGEWORTH! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Edgeworth looked up in horror at the furious Chief Prosecutor. "I... I-I... It w-was..."

"SAVE IT, ASSHOLE!" A cold rage in her eyes, Lana advanced on the terrified prosecutor, intent on hurting the man who had tried to rape her sister.

"Lana, stop! Please, STOP!"

Lana was shocked enough into halting her advance towards Edgeworth, who let out a deep breath.

_"What? What is it? What do you want, Ema?"_

"M-Miles didn't assault me! Really! It-it was..." Ema hung her head. "It was me..."

Lana seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

Ema's eyes had begun to tear up. "I-I was in... love with him and I, I kissed him to... to show him that. Because he didn't seem to get subtle hints." She sank to her knees, sobbing. "But now he knows and... and he'll never want to see me again..."

Lana went to comfort her sister, but stopped as she saw Miles Edgeworth kneeling besides Ema, putting his arms around her.

"M-Miles? What are you..."

"It's alright, Ema. I promise, I don't hate you. I don't want to never see you again."

"B-But I..."

"Ema, when you first started coming to my office, I admit, I thought you were a bit of a nuisance." Ema started to cry again, and Edgeworth hastily kept talking. "As you continued coming, though, and as you worked as my assistant, I felt a strange feeling inside myself. It wasn't merely that I liked having you around, it was as if I felt that I needed you. That I couldn't work without you. I didn't realize what that feeling meant at first, but now, I think I finally do." Edgeworth put his hand under Ema's chin and guided her head up until he was looking her in the eyes. "Ema, I love you."

Ema's eyes began to fill with tears again, and she wrapped her arms around Edgeworth, sobbing with pure joy. Edgeworth embraced her, his eyes closed as he simply drank in her presence.

Lana smiled warmly at the two, perhaps her first real smile since that fateful night. She quietly left the office without alerting the two inside, lost inside one another with true love.


End file.
